Nevermore: The Way it Should End
by ValentineRose28
Summary: Maximum Ride, the final chapter. The way it should be- about family. About friendship. About beating the pants off the bad guy and saving the whole freaking world, for goodness sake. The old Max is back. And this time, she's here to win.
1. AN

**Nevermore**

**The Way it **_**Should **_**End.**

**It's been done before. I know. But you know what? I am **_**sick**_** and **_**tired**_** of JP **_**ruining**_** Maximum Ride. So you know what? This time, it's my turn. **_**I **_**am going to tell you my version of what I think should happen in the last book. Be warned: it's not going to be the pansy, wimpy, "everyone lived happily ever after" that JP is going to come up with. There will be character deaths. You might hate me when we're done. But I need to get the story on the page the way Max Ride is **_**supposed to be. **_**Not completely centered on romance and love. I want kick-ass Max back, and I know I'm not the only one. **

**So hold on, everyone. You're in for a bumpy ride- **_**that**_**, I can guarantee. **


	2. I'm Back

_Hey Guys,_

_ Max speaking. I'm back. And this time, you won't believe what I've gotten myself into. The clock ticking towards my date with destiny is running out of time. _I'm_ running out of time. _The world_ is running out of time. _

_ You've been with me through it all. Every laugh, every tear, every round-house kick, punch, broken bone- you've seen it. I'm thankful for that. I have to save the world. It's a hard feat, I know. But it must be done. And it's starting to seem like I'm going to have to do it alone, and it's nice to know that I had people who cared for me. _

_ I think I might've lost myself a bit in the chaos that I like to call life. I've come to rely on so many other people besides myself. I don't know who I can trust anymore; anyone could be an enemy. I've put too many people in danger by being around, not being around. I can't win. _

_ Fang left, and now I'm a mess. And, to tell you the truth, I'm kind of starting to hate him for making me weak. For breaking me down, tearing me to pieces, bringing me to my knees. And my anger has helped me get over it. _

_ The end is here. I'm ready for it. Are you? _

_ Stay safe, and watch the skies. You never know what- or who- you might see._

_ ~M_


	3. The City of Lights

"_**The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective."**_

_**-Max**_

_**The Angel Experiment**_

_**Nevermore: Chapter One**_

"Gazzy! No arguing, okay? Just go with Iggy. I'll see you soon, I promise."

The nine-year-old crosses his arms over his chest stubbornly and furrows his brow.

"No. I'm staying here with you, Max."

I sigh and rub my forehead. These kids are killing me. What ever happened to the good ol' days when I could just bully everyone into doing what I want? It's like they're not even afraid of me anymore.

"It's getting too dangerous to be with me, Gaz. I have to go and find Ella and my Mom, and you guys need to keep searching for-for Angel and Jeb," I grind out between my teeth. At the sound of his _missing_ sister's name, a little of the fight goes out of his body. He's just a kid. He shouldn't always have to be so strong.

"Max…" Dylan says, coming up and scaring the I-don't-know-what out of me from behind. "We already went over this."

"Do you really think she's out there somewhere?" asked Iggy.

"Yeah, Max. Angel's-"

"Shut up, everyone. _Now_." I refuse to believe that Angel, my baby, is gone for good. "Go, Gazzy. I'm done talking about this."

I turn away from him and hand Nudge a backpack full of packaged foods and water bottles. Her big brown eyes are sad and lost, but also full of concern. For whom, though? At this point, it could probably be anyone. I resist the urge to wrap my arms around all three of them and never let go. What I said was true- it is getting too dangerous for them around me. I am becoming more of a target as 'The End of the World' draws closer. And it seems like a lot more of those mind-controlled wackadoodles are finding me, too. Just yesterday we were attacked, and one almost killed Gazzy. If I hadn't knocked that gun out of his hand from behind…well, I don't like to think about it.

"Stay safe," Iggy whispers in my ear when he leans in to hug me. I cling to his t-shirt for a moment before pushing him towards the open window. He unfurls his wings and drops out of sigh, followed by Nudge, then the Gasman. We're usually not a touchy-feely bunch, but the times have changed and with them, so have we.

"You too," I mutter, too late, watching them disappear one-by-one into the night.

_You're doing the right thing._

I jump so hard that I literally fall over. There's a crash as I knock over an old, rotting bookcase before I hit the floor, and Dylan turns around to stare at me.

"What?" I ask aloud, ignoring the pain in my butt. Dylan looks at me with mixed concern and amusement on his face. An expression I've seen before when I decide to start randomly talking to myself…

"I didn't say anything…?" He stares at me.

"I wasn't talking to you."

Oh, how rude of me! I guess I should probably tell all of you lovely people what's going on, shouldn't I?

Ella's gone, Angel's _missing (NOT DEAD), _and I appear to be going certifiably insane.

Oh yeah, and we seem to be back to square run- as in,_ on the run_. Again. Only this time, we're running _towards _someone not _away _from someone. We're going to find Ella, who ran away to…well who ran away to do something crazy. Iggy and the two little ones were off to find Fang and his gang, where they would hopefully be safe for a while longer. And, added on to that, my mother's gone as well and I'm stuck here with Mr. Perfect.

_Did you miss me? _The voice asks.

_Well, I have to say_, _I was beginning to worry that I was becoming normal again, _I say. Well, _think_.

_Oh, Max. You could never be normal._

"Thanks so much. That makes my self-confidence just _soar_."

"Um, are you sure you're alright?" Dylan asks. Oops. I guess I said that out loud.

"I'm fine, Dylan." I begin to kick pieces of broken plaster and glass out of the way to make a spot big enough for me to lie down in. As Fang would say- "A Max-sized hole." Dylan watches me until I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Come on, Max. Let's find somewhere nicer to stay."

"No. It's safe and dry up here, and that's all we need right now."

"Max, it's a squatter's house!"

I stare at him evenly, though it is hard to see with only the moonlight streaming through the broken windows.

"Fine, whatever."

I guess I still got it…a little of 'it' anyways…

Dylan offers to take first watch. I let him, just because I'm too annoyed and exhausted to be of any use guarding us anyways. As I drift off, a faint beeping noise nags the back of my mind, but I sink into sleep too quickly to dwell on it.

_Mistake number one. And we're just getting started too…_

* * *

><p>"Let's go, sleeping beauty," I say, kicking Dylan in the ribs. He jumps up, immediately, and crouches in a defensive position. "Time to get up."<p>

The funny thing about me is that I just keep thinking it's all going to be a bad dream. Like one of these days I'm just going to wake up and I'll be back in the E-house in the mountains, searching the refrigerator for food and ruffling Gazzy's hair. Buttoning up Angel's shirt. Shaking Nudge gently awake. Yelling at Fang to stop breathing down my neck…

"Where to, Master?" he mutters sarcastically.

"Shut up, Dylan. I'm not in the mood." I gather our packs and strap mine on. He's moving slow, _too_ slow, so I go ahead and get ready for take-off by opening the only non-broken window and leaning out of it.

"Come on, hurry up." I call over my shoulder, inhaling the smoky air. The skyline of Paris is smoggy, debris still floating through the atmosphere. I refuse to look down at the wreckage below me. It's just a reminder of what happened.

"Max, look at me," he says. I turn around, a not-so-patient expression on my face. He is covered in dirt and blood from our little fiasco two days ago, and he looks much older than he should. I guess is that we all kind of look that way.

"What?" I hiss. I am so not in the mood for his crap right now.

"It's okay. You're okay."

Anger boils in my stomach as I come back inside the run-down house fully. I throw my backpack down and crack my knuckles. My eyes meet his, five or six inches above my head, and I struggle not to just kill him on the spot.

"It's okay? _It's okay?_" I ask, outraged. "My baby is _gone_. _She's gone, Dylan! _I lost Angel _and_ Fang and I can't even be around the rest of my flock because I'm a moving target, yet I still have to function and _save the whole world, and you have the nerve to tell me it's okay?" _I say, my voice rising to a cracked yell at the end.

I stride over to him and send my fist flying towards his face. He smacks my wrist, spinning me around in a 180-degree turn. I try to thrust my elbow into his gut, but he deflects that, too.

"Max, stop." He grabs my arms and holds them at my sides.

"Let go of me! _Let go!" _I struggle against his grip until my tears catch up to me and I collapse against his chest. It's not the familiar, wiry one I want, but it's all I have now. I let myself stay there for half a second before shoving him away and swiping my eyes.

"Let's move."

I scoop my backpack up again and dive head first out the window. I free fall, my arms wide, for a split second before unfurling my wings and catching the air beneath them. I push down hard, then pull up, and repeat that until I'm soaring high over the City of Lights. Although, it's more like the' City with a Big Crater in the Middle of It' now.

"Where are we going?" Dylan yells over the wind whistling in our ears.

"Anywhere but here." _Anywhere_ but here. Absolutely _anywhere. _

The silence between us is suffocating. I try hard to hold back tears, because I surely have no more to cry after yesterday, right?

I angle my wings southwest; toward the only place I still have nightmares about- when I actually sleep- toward the only place I know where to begin. I _have_ to find Ella. If she and my mother are actually _gone_, I don't know what I'll…I don't know what will happen.

The wind whips at my eyes, making them run. I go ahead and let myself cry, since Dylan would never know the difference. He's pretty thick sometimes.

"Max, I'm sorry about before."

I glance over, trying to ignore the spark of…something I feel when my eyes rake his dirty, but still unnaturally beautiful face. Beautiful, not handsome, is the only way to describe him, with is clear turquoise eyes, sculpted features, blindingly white teeth.

It sickens me; how could one person be so perfect? He must have flaws- everyone does. But what are they?

"Why are you staring at me?" he finally asks.

"Just plotting several different ways to kill you without being caught," I lie smoothly, but without my usual wry humor to back it up.

He sighs, barely audible over the currents of air swooping around us.

I haven't eaten in a day, which is like a few for a regular human. We can't keep going for long- Dylan's already slowing down and we've only been in the air for an hour.

"Max, we ha-have to stop," he pants. I roll my eyes and look down at the ground. I don't even know if we're in France still, or if we're passing over Spain now. Regardless, I angle my wings down and bank. We have to fly low over the land for a few moments to find somewhere to land.

"There," Dylan says, pointing at a relatively unoccupied spot. I nod grimly and swoop in circles, getting lower and lower until I touch down and run a few yards to keep from scraping my face off on the gravel.

"Why is it so quiet?" I murmur to myself. Dylan comes in next to me, his landing not nearly as graceful as my own. He trips over an untied shoelace, sprawling face-first into the asphalt. I kneel by his side, a bemused smile on my face.

"Real smooth, man. You goin' to get up, or do I need to give you a minute?"

"Screw you," he groans, pushing himself up on his forearms. "I'm starving. Let's go." He stands up and rolls his shoulders.

I rise to my full height and do a quick 360. We seem to be in a town of sorts, but there are no people _anywhere._ All of the building are boarded up. Completely clear…but that's what scares me.

"Something's not right here…" I bite my lip and narrow my eyes on the horizon.

"Max, come on. Standing here isn't going to magically make something pop out of the sky."

"Shut up."

I close my eyes and strain my ears in the intense silence. A high-pitched beeping noise comes faintly from my right, and I snap to a fighting stance, both fists curled in front of me.

"What is it?" Dylan whispers.

"Shhh…" I begin to ease backwards, skidding loose gravel from the road under my tennis shoes. "I think there's something behind you. I hear this weird beeping."

"It's nothing. I'm starved," he says, then begins to walk off down the road. I gape at his back, astonished that he'd just completely disregard what I said.

"Dylan, you idiot, come back! We're going to get killed!"

"Max! Relax! It's all fine!" He smiles over his shoulder at me and shoves his hands deep into his pockets, still sauntering off.

Which is everything to my right explodes into fire and flying shrapnel.


	4. Fly on

_Yo,_

_ Fang here. Whatever Max's told you, don't believe it. She always was one for drama. Imagine me rolling my eyes here, of course. _

_ I feel like I might have a bit of explaining to do, yes? _

_ I know a lot of you are mad at me for leaving her in the way that I did. Hell, _I'm_ angry for leaving her. But I couldn't stay around with Dylan hovering around the edges of the flock like he was. I'm sure she's probably fallen completely in love with him by now, just like everyone else has. Whatever, though, that isn't what's important now. _

_ There have been…things going on around here. Weird things. Lighting storms, freak hurricanes, tornadoes. But, along with that, little fights have been breaking out all over the place. My gang's been trying to keep the peace, but it's getting harder and harder. _

_ About the gang, while we're on the subject. I sense something…off about them. One of them is hiding something, and I'm determined to find out what it is. _

_ Don't give up on me yet, you guys. This isn't over until the fate of our world is stable. I'd give anything for this to be over already, but it isn't. And we need _your_ help to save everyone. Max can't do all of this on her own. She shouldn't have to, anyways. Please. _

_ Fly on,_

_ Fang_


	5. Bodies Everywhere

"_**Fang pretended to think, gazing up at the ceiling. 'Besides my fashion sense? I play a mean harmonica.'"**_

_**-Fang**_

_**Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports**_

_**Nevermore: Chapter Two**_

"Fang!"

Nudge hit me with a hard hug, knocking the wind from my lungs.

"Hey!" I wheeze. "Almost missed us."

"Yeah, well, Gazzy decided to argue with Max. And then he wanted a taco, and I tried to explain to him that we weren't going to find a taco stand in Paris- I mean, this isn't New York- and then I lost him."

Gazzy blushes, scuffing his toe on the carpeted floor of the hotel room. "I came back."

"Yeah, after I told you to. Go shower, you smell."

Gazzy shrugs and runs off to the bathroom. I narrow my eyes after him.

"What's wrong with him?" Maya asks, coming up behind me and putting her chin on my shoulder. Iggy frowns in my direction before shaking his head, as if shaking off a thought. The smell of her shampoo wafts in front of my face.

I force myself to breathe through my mouth.

"You know where I found him?" Iggy whispers.

"I have an idea."

"Near the hole."

Maya makes a sound of sympathy in the back of her throat. "Poor kid."

"Poor kid?" Iggy's pale eyebrows raise high above his equally pale eyes. "How about poor everyone. We all loved her."

Maya steps back at the intense anger in Iggy's voice.

"Hey! We brought the food. And room service actually had tacos!" Ratchet says, bursting into the room with bags of fragrant food in his arms. "I heard the little guy talking about it. Where's he at? I need to give him the goods before Star here eats everything." He gestures to the skinny blonde, whose face is red with anger.

"I've already told you, I burn calories standing still because my heart beats faster than yours. Now give me that!" She grabs two of the bags and disappears back into the hallway.

"She seems pleasant," Iggy says. I smirk and shrug.

"You get used to her."

"I'm going to go across the hall as well," Kate says, brushing her long dark hair behind her ears, only to have it fall back into her eyes. "She has my food. I need to retrieve it before she eats it."

Holden sits on one of the beds, his eyes downcast. I pull a soda with a gibberish label out of one of the bags and toss it at him. It lands in his lap, and he jumps almost a foot off the mattress.

"Hey, man, eat up. We have to take off soon."

He nods, but doesn't move from his spot. I sigh and pull some food out; not even checking to see what it is before I shove it in my mouth. Iggy senses my movements, and follows my lead. Nudge has fallen asleep on the bed beside Holden, her mouth slightly agape. I smile at how peaceful she looks.

"We need to move out tonight to avoid any attacks from leftover Doomsday group followers." I swallow and wipe my fingers on my jeans. "Iggy, you guys sure you want to come with us?"

"Max didn't really give us a choice." He rolls his eyes and reaches for another delicately wrapped pastry. Even in the midst of a crisis, you can still count on the wonderful bakers of Paris to make great food.

"Well, I _am_ giving you a choice. There's _always_ a choice, Iggy."

Ig groans. "I think I'm getting whiplash."

I finish my food and crumble the wrappers, shooting them one by one into the waste basket.

"Nice shot," Maya says. In her hands are the tacos encased in their thin white paper. She's smiling, but her eyes are troubled. She looks so much like Max right now that it makes my chest hurt.

"Thanks."

I toss myself down on the bed that isn't occupied and turn the TV on. I catch the tail end of a news report, something about an earthquake in California. I read the subtitles before they disappear off the screen.

_"…one of the worst recorded in history. Rebuilding of the Los Angeles area will take some time. And now on to Susan for the weather."_

"Fang, Max wants you to find Angel." Iggy picks up the alarm clock on the side table and pops the back of it off, then begins to fiddle with the wires on the inside. I watch his agile fingers carefully.

"I love Angel, Iggy. But I don't think she's in the rubble. We looked for hours, and you all looked longer than we did."

"I know, but if we could just-"

"She's gone. Not dead, just gone."

Iggy snorts and slams the clock back down on the table, standing swiftly. "You honestly think she survived something like that? She's a little girl, Fang!" he yells. "There's no way! You and Max acting like she's alive is just making it all worse!" An alarm on the TV prevents me from getting into an argument with him now, but I know this isn't over. We'll have to talk about this sooner or later.

_"This just in- a small child's body was found in the rubble of the Paris explosion. If you know this little girl, or have any information about her guardians, please call the hotline below."_

My stomach clenches as my heart sinks to my toes; horror etches its way into my features. Maya gasps and grips my hand in her's.

"Fang. Who's in the picture? Who is it, damn it?" Iggy roars, tears gathering in his eyes.

The little girl in the photo has blood-tinged blonde curls, streaks of dust running over her cheeks, and wide-set blue eyes set in the mask of terror she must have had moments before her death. I lean forward and run my fingers over her one, tiny pink tennis shoe.

"No," Maya murmurs.

"Fang! Tell me!"

"It's Angel, Iggy." My voice cracks as I fight to keep the emotion out of it. "It's Angel."

* * *

><p><strong>Miami, Florida<strong>

"Sandy! Please take your dog out! I think it's about to rain!"

"Whatever, Mom." Sandy pauses the latest episode of Jersey Shore and grabs the dog leash. "C'mon, Zelda. Let's go potty!"

She drags her Great Dane out the front door and waits impatiently as she sniffs every corner of their tiny yard. She could be doing much better things right now, like watching her show. She gives the leash a tug. "C'mon, Zelda!" she says harshly, pulling again on the line.

Zelda finally squats to pee, and Sandy pulls her back to the back door almost before she's finished. A sudden gust of wind, more powerful than any she's ever felt, pushes at her back. She stumbles over the concrete edge of the slightly raised porch.

"What the…" Sandy looks up accusingly at the sky, but her expression soon turns to one of confusion, which melts into fear. The palm tree fronds in her backyard are whipping across the angry grey sky. Another huge gust of wind pushes her forward, just as Zelda runs in front of her. Her feet get caught in the leash, and she goes down onto the hard, unforgiving concrete.

"Ugh," she moans, rolling over on her side and pressing a hand to her forehead. It comes away bright red with her blood. Zelda licks her cheek and whines. "Come on, Zelda. Let's go inside."

She stands and staggers back into her house, slamming the door on the loud clap of thunder that pierces the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Paris, France<strong>

"Yeah, that's her," I sigh, resting my hand on Angel's. It's cold as ice, and waxy to the touch. I squeeze it slightly and it folds in on itself a bit kind of like…plastic. Does this always happen to people after they die?

"Fang," Nudge whispers, pressing her face into my side. I put my arm around her and hold her frame against me as tight as I can without hurting her.

"I know, Nudge."

I can't help but let a tear slip down my cheek before roughly wiping it away and clearing my throat. "Can we keep her here until we arrange something for the funeral?" I ask the man standing on the other side of the metal tray on which Angel's body is resting.

"Of course. I assume you don't want an autopsy performed since we already know the cause of death?" The man has a thick French accent, but speaks perfect English. As do most people in Paris, which I've come to figure out.

"No, thank you."

"Very well." He smiles, showing all of his teeth. I glance up and nod at him, then do a double take. Something about his eyes doesn't seem quite right. He stares right into mine, as if daring me to say something.

"Thank you for your services…" I say slowly, narrowing my eyes. His hands twitch in the direction of his tray of tools, and I take a few steps around the table and cut him off. I tilt my head to the side. "What are you doing, Doctor?"

"Out of my way!" He shoves me to the side and grabs a scalpel that glints darkly in the lights.

"Run!"

The Gang and I turn and run up the steps to the ground level floor of the hospital. I have chills on my arms, both from being in a room full of dead people and the fact that said room was freezing to keep said-dead bodies from…doing whatever dead bodies do.

"Where are you going? You just got here!" A voice from the tops of the stairs yells. The 'friendly' nurse who led us down here earlier is standing on the top step, the light from the room behind her turning her silhouette pitch black. A knife's in her hand.

"Got another plan, genius?" Star asks me.

"Um…"


	6. Angel Wings

_Hello there,_

_ I don't really know what to say. I'm sure a lot of you guys probably have mixed feeling about me now, after everything that I've done. I'd like to apologize for that, and for the things I will probably do in the future. _

_ I thought that by taking on the position as leader, I could move us toward our fate a bit more quickly. I don't know. I feel bad about it, now, obviously. _

_ I think I got what I deserved, though. _They_ have me. The big 'they'- the people _in charge_ of the people in charge. Max thinks she has everything figured out, but even she doesn't realize how much bigger this threat is than the ones we've faced in the past. _

_ I'm just a little kid. I don't actually know what I'm doing most of the time. I just pretend to. So please, please don't hate me. I don't have much time to talk, so I'll end this quickly. _

_ Angel. _


End file.
